Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Chad's 'New and Hot' Week 2

My ‘New and Hot’ for this week is loosely related, but I found it very interesting. The article discussed the issue of creationism in the Muslim world through the writing of physicist Taner Edis. Dr. Edis claims that in modernized Muslim countries such as Turkey, while technological advancements are praised because they improve living conditions, “creationism in Turkey is a response to modernity, and to the influx of scientific expertise and ideas from abroad” (par. 8) and its influence is “more penetrating.” Dr. Edis also related creationism to other Muslim communities using this pretext:

“Muslim immigrants in Europe tend to be from the poorer, less educated strata of society – analogous I suppose to Mexicans in America. Creationist literature is a way to fight the secularizing or Christianizing influence of those societies, while letting people feel like they are engaging with the technical and technological advancements around them.

When I asked about the influence of Harun Yahya (a group that publishes creationist literature) and other forms of Muslim creationism in America, Edis pointed out that Muslim immigrants to America tend to come from the wealthier, more educated, and often more secular strata of society. They tend to be more comfortable integrating religious interpretation to their scientific knowledge, and attempts to force science to conform to the Quran tend to be less appealing to them.”

The full article can be found here:http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2007/04/taner_edis_on_muslim_creationi.phpA few of the ideas it presents seem to contradict one another, but overall I found it really intriguing.

and finally, my review is up with everyone else's at: http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Charles-Darwin-1809-1882/dp/0393310698/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-0086157-8191363?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176333522&sr=1-1